Read More

It was every bit as tight as that scoreline suggested, too, with the home side only snatching victory two minutes from time courtesy of a penalty try with Leicester down to 14 men as replacement lock Joe Maksymiw saw out 10 minutes in the sin bin.

Coach Geordan Murphy described the performance as “heroic” and few could argue. With the emphasis on youth in their 23-man squad, Tigers led from the ninth minute until the 78, outscoring the hosts by four tries to three to go within an ace of what would have been a splendid win.

It should be pointed out that Bath were not at full strength either in what is regarded as a development competition. But with men like Matt Garvey, Matt Banahan, James Phillips and Tom Homer in their side – not to mention Freddie Burns pulling the strings at fly-half – the hosts were rightly strong favourites to win.

Credit to them for not panicking after Tigers had forged into a 31-19 lead just after hour mark when Ben White went in for his side’s fourth try and Bath’s physical advantage began to tell down the finishing straight.

A try from Zach Mercer, another Premiership regular, cut Tigers’ lead to five points before Leicester were pinned inside their own 22 for the final eight minutes. During that time Maksymiw saw yellow for pulling down a maul, Bath turning up the pressure another notch by forcing a series of penalties after opting for a scrum, to the point where referee Greg Macdonald lost patience and awarded the decisive penalty try as another scrum collapsed.

Tigers had just over a minute to try and snatch something from the fire but were denied as Bath, almost as if to recognise their escape, opted to run down the clock inside their own half. The fact that the game ended with Burns running towards his own posts before punting the ball into the crowd, demonstrated how close Tigers had pushed their rivals.

That they took two points from the game is no more than Leicester deserved. Though Bath had the majority of possession, Tigers’ defence held up well, though Burns did breach it in the first half with a brilliant chip and catch to score just before the break.

But it wasn’t just heart that Tigers showed. There was some dazzling skill on view, not least Jordan Olowofela’s break and off-load to Jordan Holmes which gave the winger his second try of the night.

He had crossed in the first half, Adam Thompstone also scoring as he put himself at the back of a punishing drive from a line-out to put Leicester 17-6 ahead after 33 minutes.

Read More

Young fly-half Tom Hardwick kicked nicely with four conversions to go with an early penalty, White continued to impress at scrum-half and Harry Simmons did a fine job moving to full-back.

No.8 Fred Tuilagi’s presence appears to grow by the game and Sam Lewis has had two excellent outings at blindside. But, in fairness, there wasn’t a Tigers player who did not do what was asked of him. Defeats are never easy to take – and never should be – but on this occasion the overriding feeling was one of a hugely encouraging evening for Leicester’s young guns.